The present invention generally relates to hydrocarbon reforming and, more particularly, to devices for reforming frying oil.
In many cooking environments, such as restaurants, home kitchens, fried food manufacturers, and the like, frying food is one of the most prevalent ways to prepare various recipes. Typically, a cooking vessel gets a refill of fresh frying oil, such as shortenings or vegetable oils, upon lapse of a preset operational interval from the refill or detection of oil deterioration exceeding an allowable level due to the repeated use of the oil. Typically, the deteriorated oil has a darker color and/or generates smoke when food is placed into the oil at elevated temperatures for frying (or, equivalently, ordinary temperatures).
One of the deterioration mechanisms of frying oil may be the heating that causes sudden thermal oxidation at the contact surface with air to form peroxides, and polymers (giant oil molecules) are formed via dimers, resulting in increased viscosity. In frying, when food is placed in the oil having increased viscosity, fine bubbles are generated and harmful cyclic compounds are also produced. An increase in viscosity also inhibits heat conduction to the food, resulting an increase of cooking time and fuel consumption to heat the oil. It also causes fried food to be impregnated with the oil, resulting in oiliness. In addition, the food is not crisply fried and the freshness and original flavor of the food is not maintained.
Several efforts have been undertaken to prolong the freshness of frying oil. For example, at http://www.indiamart.com/kavtee-cimpex, Frypowder oil stabilizer®, additives to stabilize the performance of frying oil, has been disclosed. However, Frypowder oil stabilizer® is a consumption type additive and requires timely filtration at regular intervals. Another approach to prolong the freshness can be found at http://noodle-machines.com/frying-oil-filter.html, where a frying oil filter is used to remove impurities and lower the content of oil oxidation in the frying oil. One drawback of the filter is that it filters out unwanted oxidation byproducts, instead of preventing them from forming in the first place. The filter also includes an oil pump for circulating the frying oil to be filtered.
As the process of oxidation polymerization or thermal polymerization of frying oil may have a negative impact on the freshness and usable life of the frying oil, there is a strong need for a device for suppressing the polymerization process without using chemical additives or filters, where the device can be easily maintained and installed in conventional cooking vessels.